Voice-to text mode based on ambient noise measurement

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments relate to a smart phone or a wearable device, such as a smart watch, and associated methods for enabling the UE device to switch from a normal mode to/from a voice-to-text mode and/or a text-to-voice mode. The transition to/from voice-to-text mode and/or text-to-voice mode may be conducted automatically or through manual selection by the user of the UE. These transitions (or the presentation of a manual selection option) may be determined based on an ambient noise measurement performed by the UE.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/400,438 titled “User Equipment Device InteractiveCommunication”, filed Sep. 27, 2016, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communication, includingproviding improved interactive communication capabilities for a smallform factor device, such as a smart phone or wearable device (e.g., asmart watch).

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further,wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-onlycommunications to also include the transmission of data, such asInternet and multimedia content.

Mobile electronic devices may take the form of smart phones or tablets,which users often carry on their person or hold. Smaller form factordevices, such as smart watches, are a newer form of mobile electronicdevice. These and other devices which are designed to be worn by theuser may be referred to as wearable devices. In the past, the wirelesscommunications capabilities of wearable devices have been generallylimited; for example, some wearable devices have been capable ofcommunicating only through wired interfaces or over short-rangepoint-to-point technologies. Moreover, wearable devices typically havesmaller batteries and more limited input and output capabilities thanlarger portable devices such as smart phones and tablets.

A wearable electronic device is obviously worn most of the time duringuse. As a result, a user can encounter privacy issues during voicecommunication in situations where a headset (typically a Bluetoothheadset) or other type of input/output (I/O) accessory is not beingused. It would be desirable to provide interactive communicationscapabilities for wearable devices while maintaining privacy of voicecalls, e.g., in public locations. It would further be desirable toprovide improved communication capabilities for hearing impaired andother differently-abled individuals. Thus, improvements in the field aredesirable.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are presented herein of, inter alia, a user equipment (UE)device, which may be a smart phone or a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, and associated methods for enabling the UE device to switch froma normal mode to/from a voice-to-text mode and/or a text-to-voice mode.In the voice-to-text mode, an incoming voice call may be presented tothe user by the UE via text messaging, and in the text-to-voice modetext messaging and/or email may be presented to the user by the UE viaaudio. The transition to/from voice-to-text mode and/or text-to-voicemode may be conducted automatically or through manual selection by theuser of the UE. The transitions (or the presentation of a manualselection option) may be determined based on the proximity of acompanion wireless device for supplemental audio I/O, such as theproximity of a companion smart phone device or the availability of anaudio headset when the UE is a wearable device. The transitions mayalso, or instead, be based on a variety of other factors, such as ameasurement of the amount of ambient noise where the UE is located, thelocation of the UE, whether the user of the UE is driving a vehicle,power status of the UE, and/or user preference, as well as others.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of the embodiments is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system including awearable device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system in which a wearable device canselectively either directly communicate with a cellular base station orutilize the cellular capabilities of an intermediate or proxy devicesuch as a smart phone, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example UE, e.g., a smartphone or wearable device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation whereby a UEdetermines whether to automatically switch to voice-to-text mode uponreceipt of an incoming voice call, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation whereby a UEmanually switches to voice-to-text mode upon receipt of an incomingvoice call, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method whereby a hybrid call isestablished and the calling device is informed that the receiving devicehas accepted the call in voice-to-text mode, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method whereby a hybrid call is conductedbetween two devices, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method whereby a first device communicatesan audio message to a second device, and the second device automaticallyconverts the audio message to text, and whereby the second deviceresponds to the first device with a text message and the first deviceconverts the text message to audio;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method whereby data processing andcontext based value-added actions are performed on a received audiomessage;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method whereby incoming audio data isconverted into text and translated based on the location of a device;and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an exemplary method forentering a voice-to-text mode based on an ambient noise measurement.

While the features described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

The term “configured to” is used herein to connote structure byindicating that the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g.,circuitry) that performs the task or tasks during operation. As such,the unit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform thetask even when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currentlyoperational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used withthe “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits,memory storing program instructions executable to implement theoperation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configuredto” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invokeinterpretation under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) for that unit/circuit/component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Terminology

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g. smart watch, smart glasses),PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, orother handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device”can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/ortelecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easilytransported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” (also called “eNB”) has the fullbreadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a wirelesscommunication station installed at a fixed location and used tocommunicate as part of a wireless cellular communication system.

Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations ofelements. Processing elements include, for example, circuits such as anASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), portions or circuits ofindividual processor cores, entire processor cores, individualprocessors, programmable hardware devices such as a field programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or larger portions of systems that includemultiple processors.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIG. 1—Wireless Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless cellular communicationsystem. It is noted that FIG. 1 represents one possibility among many,and that features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any ofvarious systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes acellular base station 102A, which communicates over a transmissionmedium with one or more wireless devices 106A, 106B, etc., as well as asmall form factor device, which as an example may be a wearable device107. Wireless devices 106A, 106B, and 107 may be user devices, which maybe referred to herein as “user equipment” (UE) or UE devices.

The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware that enables wireless communication withthe UE devices 106A, 106B, and 107. The base station 102 may also beequipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of acellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among variouspossibilities). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communicationbetween the UE devices 106 and 107 and/or between the UE devices 106/107and the network 100. In other implementations, base station 102 can beconfigured to provide communications over one or more other wirelesstechnologies, such as an access point supporting one or more WLANprotocols, such as 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac, ad, and/or ax, or LTE in anunlicensed band (LAA). The base station 102 (or similar networkinfrastructure) may also support other communication technologies, suchas text messaging, e.g., SMS (Short Message Service) and similar textmessaging technologies, such as iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp,etc.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station 102 may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102 and the UEs 106/107 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs) or wireless communicationtechnologies, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced(LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD),Wi-Fi, WiMAX etc. One example of LTE or LTE-A communications may beVoLTE (Voice over LTE).

Base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operatingaccording to one or more cellular communication technologies may thus beprovided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearlycontinuous overlapping service to UE devices 106A-N and 107 and similardevices over a wide geographic area via one or more cellularcommunication technologies.

Note that at least in some instances a UE device 106/107 may be capableof communicating using any of a plurality of wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, a UE device 106/107 might be configured tocommunicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN(Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, WiMAX, one or more global navigational satellitesystems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile televisionbroadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H), SMS, etc. Other combinations ofwireless communication technologies (including more than two wirelesscommunication technologies) are also possible. Likewise, in someinstances a UE device 106/107 may be configured to communicate usingonly a single wireless communication technology.

The UEs 106A and 106B are typically handheld devices such as smartphones or tablets, but may be any of various types of device withcommunication capability, such as cellular communications capability.The UE 106B may be configured to communicate with the UE device 107,which may be referred to as a small form factor device or wearabledevice 107. The wearable device 107 may be any of various types ofdevices. Typically a wearable device that has a smaller form factor, andmay have limited battery, output power and/or communications abilitiesrelative to UEs 106. As one common example, the UE 106B may be a smartphone carried by a user, and the wearable device 107 may be a smartwatch worn by that same user, or possibly a different user. Thus, asanother example, in the operation described herein the UE 106B may be asmart phone carried by a first user, and the wearable device 107 may bea smart watch worn by a second, different user. The UE 106B and thewearable device 107 may communicate using any of various short-rangecommunication protocols, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.

The wearable device 107 may include communications capability, e.g.,cellular communication capability, and hence may be able to directlycommunicate with cellular base station 102. However, since the wearabledevice 107 is possibly limited in one or more of its communicationcapabilities, output power, and/or battery, the wearable device 107 mayin some instances selectively utilize the UE 106B as a proxy forcommunication purposes with the base station 102 and hence to thenetwork 100. In other words, the wearable device 107 may selectively usethe cellular communication capabilities of the UE 106B to conduct itscellular communications. The limitation on communication abilities ofthe wearable device 107 can be permanent, e.g., due to limitations inoutput power or the radio access technologies (RATs) supported, ortemporary, e.g., due to conditions such as current battery status,inability to access a network, or poor reception.

FIG. 2—Example System with a Wearable Device

FIG. 2 illustrates an example small form factor device 107 incommunication with base station 102. The small form factor device 107may be a wearable device such as a smart watch. The wearable device 107may comprise cellular communication capability and be capable ofdirectly communicating with the base station 102 as shown. When thewearable device 107 is configured to directly communicate with the basestation, the wearable device may be said to be in “autonomous mode.”

The wearable device 107 may also be capable of communicating withanother device (e.g., UE 106), referred to as a proxy device orintermediate device, using a short-range communications protocol, andmay then use the cellular functionality of this proxy device forcommunicating cellular voice/data with the base station 102. In otherwords, the wearable device 107 may provide voice/data packets intendedfor the base station 102 over the short-range link to the UE 106, andthe UE 106 may use its cellular functionality to transmit (or relay)this voice/data to the base station on behalf of the wearable device107. Similarly, the voice/data packets transmitted by the base stationand intended for the wearable device 107 may be received by the cellularfunctionality of the UE 106 and then may be relayed over the short-rangelink to the wearable device. As noted above, the UE 106 may be a mobilephone, a tablet, or any other type of hand-held device, a media player,a computer, a laptop or virtually any type of wireless device. When thewearable device 107 is configured to indirectly communicate with thebase station using the cellular functionality of an intermediate orproxy device, the wearable device 107 may be said to be in “relay mode.”

Various embodiments herein are described with respect to the wearabledevice 107 selectively using either its own cellular functionality(autonomous mode) to communicate with a base station, or using thecellular functionality of the UE 106 (relay mode) for communications,e.g., for LTE or VoLTE. However, embodiments described herein may alsobe used with other radio access technologies (RATs), such as to enablethe wearable device 107 to selectively using either its own Wi-Fifunctionality (autonomous mode) to communicate with a Wi-Fi accesspoint, or use the Wi-Fi functionality of the UE 106 (relay mode) forWi-Fi communications.

The wearable device 107 may include a processor that is configured toexecute program instructions stored in memory. The wearable device 107may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executingsuch stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the wearabledevice 107 may include a processing element, such as a programmablehardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array),integrated circuit (IC), or other circuitry, that is configured toperform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portionof any of the method embodiments described herein.

The wearable device 107 may include one or more antennas forcommunicating using two or more wireless communication protocols orradio access technologies. In some embodiments, the UE device 106 mightbe configured to communicate using a single shared radio. The sharedradio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas(e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Alternatively,the UE device 106 may include two or more radios. For example, the UE106 might include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE(or LTE-Advanced) or Bluetooth, and separate radios for communicatingusing each of LTE-Advanced and Bluetooth. Other configurations are alsopossible.

The small form factor device (e.g., wearable device) 107 may be any ofvarious types of devices that, in some embodiments, has a smaller formfactor relative to a conventional smart phone, and may have one or moreof limited communication capabilities, limited output power, or limitedbattery life relative to a conventional smart phone. As noted above, insome embodiments, the wearable device 107 is a smart watch or other typeof wearable device. When the UE 106 is capable of being used by thewearable device 107 as a proxy, the UE 106 may be referred to as acompanion device to the wearable device 107.

FIG. 3—Example Block Diagram of a UE Device

FIG. 3 illustrates one possible block diagram of a UE device 106 or awearable device 107. As shown, the UE 106/107 may include a system onchip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. Forexample, as shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302 which mayexecute program instructions for the UE 106/107, and display circuitry304 which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals tothe display 360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to memorymanagement unit (MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addressesfrom the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations inmemory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, Flash memory 310).The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and pagetable translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may beincluded as a portion of the processor(s) 302.

The UE device 106/107 may also include other circuits or devices, suchas the display circuitry 304, radio 330, connector I/F 320, and/ordisplay 360.

In the embodiment shown, ROM 350 may include a bootloader, which may beexecuted by the processor(s) 302 during bootup or initialization. Asalso shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of theUE device 106/107. For example, the UE device 106/107 may includevarious types of memory, a connector interface 320 (e.g., for couplingto a computer system), the display 360, and wireless communicationcircuitry (e.g., for communication using LTE, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, WiFi,NFC, GPS, etc.).

The UE device 106/107 may include at least one antenna, and in someembodiments multiple antennas, for performing wireless communicationwith base stations and/or other devices. For example, the UE device106/107 may use antenna 335 to perform the wireless communication. Asnoted above, the UE 106/107 may in some embodiments be configured tocommunicate wirelessly using a plurality of wireless communicationstandards or radio access technologies (RATs).

As described herein, the UE device 106 and/or the wearable device 107may include hardware and software components for implementing methodsaccording to embodiments of this disclosure. The processor 302 of the UEdevice 106/107 may be configured to implement part or all of the methodsdescribed herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on amemory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).In other embodiments, processor 302 may be configured as a programmablehardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or asan ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

FIG. 4—Exemplary Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as awireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate withUE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434 communicates with theradio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be areceive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be configuredto communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards,including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly usingmultiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the basestation 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the basestation 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a Wi-Fi radio for performing communication according to Wi-Fi.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., LTE and Wi-Fi).

The base station 102 may include hardware and software components forimplementing or supporting implementation of features described herein.

Context Aware Voice Calls

User equipment (UE) devices are commonly used for performing voice callswith a remote UE device. However, there may be conditions, hereafterconsidered as voice-to-text conditions, in which a user is unable toeffectively communicate via a voice call, or where it would beundesirable for the user to engage in a voice call. For example, theuser may be in a noisy environment such as a concert, sports venue, amarketplace, a train station, or another area where ambient noise maylimit effective voice call communication. As another example, the usermay be in a conference room, classroom, church, hospital, or anotherarea where it would be disruptive for the user to engage in a voicecall. As yet another example, the user may be in an emergency situationwhere it is unsafe to place a traditional voice call. For example, theuser may be hiding in his/her home from a burglar, and wish to silentlycontact an emergency assistance service such as 911. As yet anotherexample, wearable devices are now capable of engaging in voice calls.Some wearable devices are configured to perform voice calls through aheadset. However, in the absence of a connected headset the wearabledevice may be configured to broadcast audio to its wearer (user) to anextent such that nearby people may be able to eavesdrop on the call. Inthis case, a user may prefer to not engage in a voice call if the useris in a public place (e.g., mall, office, etc.), and/or if the user doesnot have a headset currently connected to the device. As yet anotherexample, a hearing or speech impaired user may desire to use a UE tocommunicate with a remote device. The user may be unable to effectivelyhear incoming voice data, and/or may be unable to effectively inputoutgoing voice data, rendering a traditional voice call ineffective orimpossible.

The user experience may be improved if the UE is configured toautomatically detect whether one or more voice-to-text conditions arecurrently present upon notification of an incoming voice call. If one ormore voice-to-text conditions are detected, it may be desirable for theUE to automatically enter a voice-to-text mode wherein the UE wouldengage the incoming voice call via text messaging. Engaging an incomingvoice call via text messaging may comprise converting incoming voicesignals into text and displaying the text on a display of the UE.Additionally or alternatively, engaging an incoming call via textmessaging may comprise the UE receiving user input as text messages,which are then converted by the UE into audio voice data and transmittedas voice signals to the remote device.

Alternatively, instead of automatically entering voice-to-text mode, theUE may be configured to present an option to the user whether to engage(or answer) an incoming call in voice-to-text mode. For example, thedisplay of the UE may present an icon, such as a button, which, whenselected, will answer the call in voice-to-text mode. In someembodiments, the option whether to engage an incoming call invoice-to-text mode may be presented to the user for all incoming calls.In other embodiments, the option whether to engage an incoming call invoice-to-text mode may be presented to the user only for incoming callsduring which one or more voice-to-text conditions are determined to bepresent. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured toalways present an option to the user to engage incoming calls invoice-to-text mode, but the option may be made more prominent when oneor more voice-to-text conditions are determined to be present. Forexample, a button displayed on the UE that will trigger voice-to-textmode may be made larger and/or of a different color, shape, etc. when anincoming call is received while one or more voice-to-text conditions aredetermined to be present. In some embodiments, the UE may be configuredto present an option to initiate an outgoing call in voice-to-text mode,based on the presence of one or more voice-to-text conditions.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to alwayspresent an option to initiate an outgoing call in voice-to-text mode.

FIG. 5—Flowchart: Method for Automatically Switching to Voice-to-TextMode

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method for awireless device (e.g., UE 106 or a wearable device 107) to determine ifone or more voice-to-text conditions are present, and automaticallytransition into a voice-to-text mode for receiving the incoming callupon determining that one or more voice-to-text conditions are present,according to some embodiments. This method may be particularly usefulfor a wearable device such as a smart watch, since a smart watch mayprovide less audio privacy than other larger devices such as smartphones.

The method shown in FIG. 5 may be used in conjunction with any of thesystems or devices shown in the above Figures, among other devices. Invarious embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performedconcurrently, in a different order than shown, or may be omitted.Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. As shown,this method may operate as follows.

At 502, a UE receives an incoming call, such as a typical incoming voicecall. The indication of the voice call may be via a paging message orother conventional means.

At 504, the UE determines whether one or more voice-to-text conditionsare present. These voice-to-text conditions may be any of various typesof conditions or criteria, and may involve detection of a singlecondition or multiple conditions. In some embodiments, the detection ofa single voice-to-text condition may be sufficient to automaticallyengage the voice-to-text mode. In other embodiments, detection ofmultiple voice-to-text conditions may be required. As one example, thevoice-to-text condition may be the presence and/or availability of anauxiliary audio I/O device that allows for more audio privacy, such as aBluetooth headset or a companion smartphone. Other voice-to-textconditions may include a measurement of ambient noise, locationinformation, user behavior, current battery status, as well as others.These and other voice-to-text conditions are discussed further below.

At 506, the user of the UE elects to accept the incoming call. This maybe performed by the user selecting a button on the display of the UE toaccept the call. If the UE determines that one or more voice-to-textconditions are present, the UE may automatically engage the call invoice-to-text mode at 508. In other words, the UE may answer the calland invoke a voice-to-text mode such that incoming voice signals areautomatically converted into text (such as a text message) for the userto read, and/or such that the UE receives user input as text messages,which are then converted by the UE into audio voice data and transmittedas voice signals to the remote device. If the UE determines that the oneor more voice-to-text conditions are not present, the UE mayautomatically answer the call in a traditional manner (not shown).

FIG. 6—Flowchart: Method for Manually Switching to Voice-to-Text Mode

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method for awireless device (e.g., UE 106 or a wearable device 107) to determine ifone or more voice-to-text conditions are present, and then present anoption selectable by the user to manually transition into avoice-to-text mode for receiving the incoming call upon determining thatone or more voice-to-text conditions are present, according to someembodiments. In FIG. 6, method steps that are identical those performedin FIG. 5 have the same reference numerals for convenience. The methodshown in FIG. 6 may be used in conjunction with any of the systems ordevices shown in the above Figures, among other devices. In variousembodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performedconcurrently, in a different order than shown, or may be omitted.Additional method elements may also be performed as desired. As shown,this method may operate as follows.

At 502, a UE receives an incoming call, as discussed above.

At 504 the UE determines whether one or more voice-to-text conditionsare present, similar to as described above. Here it is noted that thevoice-to-text conditions that are assessed in the manual switchingmethod may be less stringent (or more liberal), since the result of thisstep is merely presenting the option to the user to invoke voice-to-textmode (or making the option more prominent on the display). In theautomatic method of FIG. 5, where the determination of voice-to-textconditions results in automatic engagement of the voice-to-text mode,the assessment or determination of the conditions may be more stringent,since the automatic engagement of voice-to-text mode is a more intrusiveor potentially disruptive operation.

At 606, the UE presents an option on the display of the UE to accept thecall in voice-to-text mode, based on determining that one or morevoice-to-text conditions are present. In other words, if the UEdetermines that one or more voice-to-text conditions are present, the UEmay then cause an icon to be displayed on the display, such as near thetypical “answer call” button, which is selectable by the user to engagethe voice-to-text mode. For example, the icon may be a button or othericon which includes the phrase “Answer in Voice-to-Text Mode” orsomething similar.

At 608, the UE engages the call in voice-to-text mode based on the userselection of the option to accept the call in voice-to-text mode. If theuser chooses to instead answer the incoming voice call in the normalmanner, such as selecting or pressing the normal “Answer” button, thenthe voice call is engaged in a normal manner wherein incoming voicesignals to the UE are presented to the user as audible voice signals, aswould occur in a normal phone call.

Voice-to-Text Conditions

A variety of situations may lead to a determination that a voice-to-textcondition is present, as detailed below.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to make an ambient noisemeasurement using its microphone upon receipt of an incoming call (e.g.,upon receipt of a paging message). If upon receipt of an incoming voicecall the ambient noise measurement detects the presence of ambient noiseabove a noise threshold, the UE may be configured to determine that avoice-to-text condition is present. In some embodiments, the ambientnoise measurement may pay particular attention to measured audiofrequencies that might interfere with output of audible speechfrequencies. In another embodiment, the UE may periodically make ambientnoise measurements (e.g., at 5 minute intervals or at any otherinterval), such as when the user has configured a voice-to-text modeoption in his settings. In some embodiments, the magnitude of the noisethreshold and the length of the interval between measurements may beuser configured, as desired. The UE may be alternatively configured torequire multiple of the most recent subsequent ambient noisemeasurements to register above the noise threshold before avoice-to-text condition is determined to be present. Periodicallyconducting ambient noise measurements may require an undesirable amountof battery power, and thus in some embodiments are only performed whenthe user configures this option in his device settings, such as when theuser knows he is going to a loud venue. As noted above, the UE may beconfigured to make an ambient noise measurement only upon receipt of anincoming voice call, thus preserving battery life.

In other embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine that avoice-to-text condition is present based on the location of the UE. TheUE may determine its location by communication with any of variouspositioning satellite technologies (GPS, etc.). In other embodiments,the UE may determine its approximate location by the identity of one ormore proximate Wi-Fi access points, e.g., which may include a Wi-Fiaccess point to which the UE is presently connected.

The UE may be configured to allow the user to designate locations orregions surrounding locations as ‘quiet regions’, wherein the UE will beconfigured determine that a voice-to-text condition is present. Forexample, the UE may be configured to allow the user to designate certainWi-Fi access points as ‘voice-to-text’ access points, wherein whileconnected to these designated Wi-Fi access points the UE will determinethat a voice-to-text condition is present. In other embodiments, thelocations, regions surrounding locations, and Wi-Fi access points thatwill trigger a UE to determine that a voice-to-text condition is presentmay alternatively be designated by a network operator or other entity,as desired. For example, certain venues may designate Wi-Fi accesspoints within their premises as “quiet zones”, whereby the relevantWi-Fi access points are configured with information that directs UEdevices (or certain classes of UE devices) that are sufficientlyproximate to these access points to automatically engage voice-to-textmode upon receipt of an incoming call. This provides a mechanism for avenue owner or operator, such as a hospital, church, movie theater,library, etc. to enforce a quiet zone within their premises, while stillallowing users to receive/conduct incoming phone calls in a textualmanner.

In other embodiments, the UE device may be configured to handle 911 orenhanced 911 (e911) emergency calls in an appropriate manner, regardlessof whether the user places a 911 voice call as is typically done, ortexts a message to 911. The UE may be configured such that if the usertexts an emergency message to 911, the UE may be configured to providethe emergency text message to the appropriate authorities, and may alsobe configured to place a voice call to 911 (dial 911) and performtext-to-voice conversion on the text message and provide the convertedvoice signals when the 911 call is answered by the authorities. Thus ina situation where the user is in an emergency situation where speakingis undesirable, e.g., the user is hiding from intruders in his home orhiding in a robbery situation, the user is able to text his emergency911 message, and his emergency text message is sent as a converted voicecall to 911.

In other embodiments, the UE may be a wearable device that is configuredto perform short-range communication with an input/output (I/O)accessory device (e.g., a wireless headset comprising a microphone andspeakers, or another audio I/O accessory device). In some embodiment,the UE may be configured to determine that a voice-to-text condition ispresent any time that the audio I/O device is not available for use bythe UE.

Similarly, the UE may be configured to perform short-range communicationwith a companion device (e.g., a smart phone). In some embodiments, theUE may be configured to determine that a voice-to-text condition ispresent any time that the companion device is not proximate to thewearable device. For example, if the user is in a fairly quiet locationwhere strangers are present, such as at a coffee shop, the user maydesire to not use the wearable device to conduct a voice call since thewearable device may broadcast the received audio in a manner such thatstrangers can overhear the conversation. If the user desires a moreprivate conversation, and if the user is in possession of the companiondevice (smartphone), the user can simply elect to use the companiondevice (smartphone) to conduct the call. Here the user can place thesmartphone to his ear and hence have a more private conversion than ispossible with the wearable device.

Thus the UE may determine that a voice-to-text condition is present whenthe companion device is not usable as a replacement for the wearabledevice in conducting the voice call, e.g., any time the wearable deviceis not able to communicate with the companion device, or the companiondevice is determined to be sufficiently far away from the wearabledevice such that the companion device cannot be used to conduct anincoming voice call in place of the wearable device. For example, the UEmay determine that the companion device is not proximate to the UE basedon simple lack of ability to communicate, or based on an RSSI signalstrength dropping below a predetermined threshold.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether the companion deviceis not available or usable as a replacement for the wearable device inconducting a voice call as a voice-to-text condition may be used inconjunction with location information.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured todetermine that a voice-to-text condition is present during asimultaneous occurrence of two or more of: 1) unavailability of anaccessory audio I/O device, e.g., unavailability of an audio I/O devicesuch as a headset, 2) non-proximity of the companion smartphone device;3) the UE is determined to be located in a location or region (orproximate to a Wi-Fi access point) designated by the user or a thirdparty in the manner explained above.; and/or 4) a measurement of theambient noise indicates that the user is in a location that issufficiently loud such that conducting a normal voice call will beproblematic.

In other embodiments, a UE may determine that a voice-to-text conditionis present when a battery level of the UE drops below a predeterminedthreshold. Engaging in a voice call presents a substantial strain on thebattery level of a device, so that engaging calls via text message mayprolong a battery life of the UE. Thus, if the battery or power level ofthe UE drops below a certain threshold, the UE may automatically switchto the voice-to-text mode to save power. Here it is presumed that theadditional power required to perform voice-to-text conversion operationsis less than the relative power saving incurred in transmitting a textmessage instead of voice signals.

In a related embodiment, the UE may determine if it is in a poor signalquality environment, such as at the edge of a cell, where a large amountof output power is required to transmit voice signals to a base station.In this case, the UE may detect this condition and automatically switchto voice-to-text mode to save power. Here it is presumed thattransmission of a text message to a remote base station consumes lesspower than transmission of voice signals to the remote base station.

In other embodiments, a UE may be used by a hearing or speech impaireduser. In some embodiments, the UE may be a teletypewriter (TTY) devicethat is configured to communicate with a remote device which may be aTTY or a non-TTY device. In traditional implementations, a message froma non-TTY device to a TTY device may be sent to a relay agent, who mayconvert an audio message into a text message, and forward the textmessage to the TTY device. The relay agent may likewise convert a textmessage received from the TTY device into audio, and forward the audioto the remote device. It may improve the user experience if the TTYdevice is configured to communicate directly with a remote TTY ornon-TTY device, without using a third party relay agent. For example,obviating the necessity of a third party relay agent would provideimproved privacy and reduced latency for communication using a TTYdevice. If the user wishes to engage in a call via the UE with a remotedevice, it may be desirable for the UE to be configured to automaticallyconvert input data from text to audio and/or output data from audio totext. In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to always engageincoming and outgoing voice calls in voice-to-text mode.

In other embodiments, the user may anticipate an upcoming situationwherein the user would prefer to engage calls in voice-to-text mode. Inthese embodiments, the UE may be designed where the user may select avoice-to-text configuration option, e.g., in the settings of the UE. Forexample, in a situation where the user is leaving to attend a rockconcert or sporting event, or is going to a movie theater, church, orlibrary, the user may go to his “Settings” and place his phone orsmartwatch in “voice-to-text mode for voice calls”. In this way,incoming voice calls that arrive while the user is at one of thesevenues will be received as text messages. When the user returns from thevenue, the user can go to his “Settings” and disable the “voice-to-textmode for voice calls”, i.e., can return to normal calling mode.

In some instances, the condition or circumstance that necessitatedengaging the call via text message may change during the duration of thecall. In this case, it may be desirable for the user to switch thevoice-to-text call back into a voice call during the call.Alternatively, a condition or circumstance may arise during an activevoice call that would make it advantageous to switch the voice call intoa voice-to-text mode. In some embodiments, while the call is ongoing,the UE may be configured to allow the user to manually switch betweenconducting the call as a voice call or conducting the call via textmessaging. For example, the display of the UE may display a button bywhich the user may switch back and forth between the two modes duringthe call.

Engaging a call via text messaging may introduce significantly largerlatency than engaging a call as a voice call. It may therefore bedesirable for a UE to inform the calling device (the remote UE device)that the call is being engaged via text messaging. In some embodiments,the UE may be configured to automatically send a preset or prerecordedaudio (or text) message to the calling device upon acceptance of anincoming voice call in voice-to-text mode, wherein the preset orprerecorded audio (or text) message informs the calling device that thevoice call will be engaged in voice-to-text mode. The user of thecalling device would then know to anticipate latency from the UE duringthe call.

FIG. 7: Exemplary Method for Engaging an Incoming Call in Voice-to-TextMode

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method by which a UE may be configured toreceive and engage an incoming call in voice-to-text mode.

At 702, a call is originated by a remote device and an indication of thecall is received by the UE. The indication may take the form of acellular paging message or something similar.

At 704, in response to receipt of the incoming call (in response toreceipt of the cellular paging message) a button is displayed on thedisplay of the UE, whereby the user of the UE may select to accept thecall in voice-to-text mode. As shown, the button to accept the call invoice-to-text mode may be displayed alongside other buttons, such as abutton to accept the voice call as a regular voice call, a button todecline the call or send the call to voicemail, etc.

At 706, the user accepts the call in voice-to-text mode. As noted, thevoice-to-text mode may include a preset message, which may be an audiomessage or a text message, to be conveyed to the calling party (remoteparty), as discussed below.

At 708, the preset message is communicated from the UE to the remotedevice, informing the remote device that the UE has accepted the call invoice-to-text mode. Where the preset message is a text message, thepresent message may be sent as a normal text message. Where the presetmessage is an audio message, the preset audio message may becommunicated as a separate sideband message or as part of the call. Ifthe calling party (remote device) and the called party (the UE) arecompatible, e.g., execute the same operating system (OS) or are from thesame vendor, or if this functionality has been standardized betweendifferent vendors, then the UE may send a data item such as a simpleflag or other parameter value to indicate to the remote device that theUE has accepted the call in voice-to-text mode. Receipt of this flag orvalue by the remote device may cause the remote device to play theappropriate audio message, or display the appropriate text message,informing the user of the remote device that the UE has accepted thecall in voice-to-text mode.

At 710, the phone user interface (UI) of the UE transitions to supportvoice-to-text mode. More specifically, the UE may display a textmessaging user interface instead of a voice calling user interface.

Finally, at 712, call setup is completed in a hybrid mode, wherein theremote device engages the call in a voice mode, and the UE engages thecall in voice-to-text mode.

FIG. 8: Exemplary Method for Conducting a Call in Hybrid Mode

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method by which a remote device and a UE maybe configured to conduct a call in a hybrid mode. The operations shownin FIG. 8 may occur, for example, at the conclusion of the methoddetailed in FIG. 7.

At 802, call setup is completed in hybrid mode. Here it is presumed thatthe operations of FIG. 7 have completed, and the call setup has beenperformed to establish the call in hybrid mode.

At 804, audio from the remote device is received at the UE, typicallythrough the cellular network, and converted into text by the UE. The UEmay execute any of various speech recognition programs to perform theconversion of received audio signals into text.

At 806, text input from the UE is converted into audio and sent to theremote device. In other words, the user may type a text message, orselect a preconfigured text message, and this text method may beconverted into audio signals for transmission by the UE to the remotedevice, likely through the cellular network. Where the text message isconverted “on-the-fly”, then the generated audio may be generated with acomputerized voice (e.g., Siri). Alternatively, the user may haveprerecorded some audio messages of his own that the user may select tobe sent. In this case, no actual conversion of text input to audiooutput may be needed.

FIG. 9: Exemplary Method for Conducting Voice-to-Text and Text-to-VoiceMode Between Two UEs

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary method by which a first UE and a second UE maybe configured to operate in text-to-voice and voice-to-text modes,respectively. A user of the first UE records an audio message that issent to the second UE. The second UE is configured to display an optionto play the audio message, and additionally performs an audio-to-textconversion on the message and displays the content of the message astext. The user of the second UE then inputs a text message response,which is sent to the first UE. The first UE displays the text messageresponse, and additionally may convert the text message response intoaudio and play back the audio conversion.

Context Aware Text Messaging

In addition to performing voice calls, UE devices are commonly used forcommunicating text messages and emails with remote devices. However,there are circumstances wherein a user may be unable to effectivelycommunicate via text message or email. For example, the user may bedriving so that he/she is unable to (or should not) read and respond viatext messaging or email. As another example, the user may be visionimpaired and be unable to effectively read text on his/her device. Inthese circumstances, the user experience may be improved if the UE isconfigured to enter a text-to-voice mode, wherein the UE mayautomatically convert an incoming text message or email into audioand/or convert audio input from the user into text that can be sent tothe remote device via text message or email while in the text-to-voicemode.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine whether theuser is currently driving an automobile. For example, the UE may beconfigured to determine its velocity through communication with apositioning satellite technology (GPS, etc.), by the use ofaccelerometers inside the device, or by other means. If the UEdetermines that its velocity is above a predetermined threshold, whereinthe predetermined threshold is indicative of a user of the UE driving anautomobile, the UE may be configured to automatically entertext-to-voice mode. This determination may be used in conjunction withother techniques that help to confirm that the user is currently drivingan automobile, such as determining that the location of the UE isconsistent with being on a road or highway (and, e.g., not on a train),determining that no other UE devices are in near proximity (no otherpassengers indicates the user of the UE is driving and not a passenger),or information from the automobile itself, as discussed further below.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine whether theuser is currently driving through short-range wireless communicationwith a receiver in the automobile. For example, the automobile may becapable of BlueTooth, Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication (NFC), or othershort-range wireless communications, and the UE may be configured toenter text-to-voice mode while it is in short-range wirelesscommunication with the automobile. Alternatively, the UE may measure anRSSI signal strength of short-range wireless communication with theautomobile to determine whether the UE is sufficiently close to theautomobile to likely be located inside the automobile. In otherembodiments the UE may be configured to enter text-to-voice mode whenthe UE is determined to be both moving at a velocity greater than thepredetermined threshold and in short-range wireless communication withthe automobile.

Automobiles may be equipped with pressure sensors that inform theautomobile if a seat is occupied (and hence a seatbelt should bebuckled), and the seat occupancy status may be communicated to the UE bythe short-range wireless communication with the automobile. In someembodiments, the UE may be configured to enter text-to-voice mode whenthe UE is determined to be moving at a velocity greater than thepredetermined threshold and/or when it is informed through short-rangewireless communication with the automobile that the front passenger seatis unoccupied. Alternatively, the UE may be configured to entertext-to-voice mode when the UE is determined to be moving at a velocitygreater than the predetermined threshold and/or when it is informedthrough short-range wireless communication with the automobile that allseats other than the driver's seat are unoccupied.

For privacy reasons, a user may only desire to enter text-to-voice modeif he/she is alone while driving a car. In some embodiments, and inaddition to the criteria listed above, a UE, which may be referred to asa first UE, may be additionally configured to determine whether the useris alone while driving an automobile in a variety of ways. For example,the first UE may use proximity information obtained through short-rangewireless communication with other UE devices to determine if other UEdevices are collocated in the automobile. Alternatively, the first UEmay use a cloud based solution. For example, each of a plurality of UEsmay update a unique identifier (e.g., VIN number, BT MAC address, etc.)to the cloud and the first UE may query the cloud to determine how manydevices are currently being used on the same automobile as the first UE.Alternatively, location information may be used to build a clouddatabase of UE locations for the plurality of UEs. In other embodiments,the UE may determine the number of persons in an automobile from an“in-car” software platform such as Apple CarPlay. For example, thein-car software platform may broadcast the number of persons in anautomobile using a BlueTooth or NFC beacon. Other potential embodimentsare also possible, as desired.

In some embodiments, the user may be a vision-impaired user, and the UEmay be a TTY device. In traditional implementations, a message from anon-TTY device to a TTY device may be sent to a relay agent, who mayconvert a text message into an audio message, and forward the audiomessage to the TTY device. The relay agent may likewise convert an audiomessage received from the TTY device into text, and forward the text tothe remote device. It may improve the user experience if the TTY deviceis configured to communicate directly with a remote TTY or non-TTYdevice, without using a third party relay agent. For example, obviatingthe necessity of a third party relay agent would provide improvedprivacy and reduced latency for communication using a TTY device. If theuser wishes to communicate via the UE with a remote device, it may bedesirable for the UE to be configured to automatically convert inputaudio data into text and/or convert incoming text messages into audio.In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to always engage incomingand outgoing voice calls in text-to-voice mode.

Additional Value-Added Features with Two UEs

In some embodiments, the methods described herein may be supplementedwith additional value added features in the instance wherein both the UEdevice and the remote device are compatible, such as using the sameoperating system. For example, if both devices are capable of enteringvoice-to-text and text-to-voice mode, there may be processingefficiencies that would improve the user experience. For example, a UEdevice, which may be referred to as a first UE, may establish a callwith a remote device, wherein the first UE conducts the call invoice-to-text mode, wherein conducting the call in voice-to-text modecomprises converting incoming audio data into text, and converting inputtext data into outgoing audio data. In these embodiments, the first UEmay be further configured to send a message to the remote device uponentering voice-to-text mode, wherein the message informs the remotedevice of a first operating system running on the first UE. In someembodiments the remote device may be a second UE of the same type as thefirst UE, wherein the remote device is also running the first operatingsystem and is likewise capable of voice-to-text and text-to-voice modes.In this case, the second UE may then send a message to the first UE,informing the first UE that the second UE is running the first operatingsystem. In these embodiments, processing efficiencies may be madeavailable as detailed below.

For example, in these embodiments, the first and second UEs may enter ahybrid communication mode, wherein the processing requirements ofaudio-to-text and text-to-audio conversions are distributed equitablybetween the two UEs. For example, the first UE may transition into apartial voice-to-text mode wherein the first UE converts incoming audiodata to text, but does not convert outgoing text data back into audio.The second UE may then be configured to enter a complementary partialtext-to-voice mode, wherein the second UE is configured to output audiodata, and automatically convert incoming text data into audio data. Theprocessing requirements of audio-to-text and text-to-audio conversionmay thereby be split equitably between the two devices, potentiallyreducing latency and improving user experience. Other potentialembodiments involving the first UE engaging in text-to-voice mode, etc.,may also be possible, as desired.

FIG. 9: Exemplary Method for Conducting a Hybrid Communication ModeBetween Two UEs

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary method by which a first UE and a second UE maybe configured to operate in a hybrid communication mode. A user of thefirst UE records an audio message that is sent to the second UE. Thesecond UE is configured to display an option to play the audio message,and additionally performs an audio-to-text conversion on the message anddisplays the content of the message as text. The user of the second UEthen inputs a text message response, which is sent to the first UE. Thefirst UE displays the text message response, and additionally convertsthe text message response into audio and plays back the audioconversion.

Context Aware Value Added Service

A UE may receive incoming voice and text data that contains informationthat a user of the UE desires to forward on to an application on the UE.For example, a UE may receive a phone number via a voice or textmessage, which the user may desire to save into a contact list oraddress book on the UE. As another example, a UE may receive anindication for an upcoming appointment (e.g., a text message statingthat the user has a doctor's appointment at 2 pm today), which the usermay desire to save onto a calendar application on the UE. As anotherexample, a user may desire to be reminded of an upcoming event at somepoint in the future. In these case, it may be desirable for the UE to beconfigured to provide the option of forwarding the relevant informationto the appropriate application.

In some embodiments, the user may wish to remind him/herself of anupcoming appointment. The UE may be configured to receive an audiomessage from the user, and convert the message into text. The UE maythen perform text processing on the text and trigger content basedactions based on the content of the text processing. For example, if therecorded message was converted to text as “remind me at 1 pm to getready for my doctor's appointment”, the UE may be configured to waituntil 1 pm and then output an automated audio recording that says “getready for your doctor's appointment”. Other embodiments or examples arealso possible.

In some embodiments, the user may receive an incoming audio message thatcontains information which the user would like to forward on to anotherapplication on the UE. In these embodiments, the UE may be configured toconvert the incoming audio into text, and perform text processing on theconverted text to determine if forwarding information to anotherapplication on the UE may be warranted. Based on a determination thatsuch forwarding may be warranted, the UE may be configured to display anoption on the display of the UE, wherein the user may select the optionto forward the information to the recommended application, or the usermay alternatively select to ignore the recommendation to forward theinformation.

In some embodiments, the user may anticipate a need to transcribeupcoming audio data into text and forward the text to a note-takingapplication on the UE. For example, the user may plan to participate ina conference call, and may desire to automatically take notes during thecall. In these embodiments, the UE may be configured to display anoption on the display of the UE to enter a ‘note-taking’ mode, whereinthe UE is configured to automatically transcribe audio data into textand forward the text to a predesignated application on the UE duringvoice calls while in the note-taking mode.

FIG. 10: Exemplary Method for Text Processing and Context Based ValueAdded Actions

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method by which a UE is configured to performtext processing and trigger context based actions on an incoming audiomessage. The UE receives an audio message from a remote device. The UEthen converts the audio into text. The UE then performs text processingon the converted text and determines whether to trigger context basedactions. Based on a determination that the text will trigger a remindervia a calendar app on the UE, the UE then displays an option on thedisplay, whereby the user of the UE may elect either to save thereminder to the calendar, or ignore the reminder. Based on the userelected to save the reminder to the calendar, the UE is furtherconfigured to remind the user at a subsequent time of the relevantcontent of the text.

Locale Based Content Translation

In modern times, many people routinely travel to foreign countries wherethe native language is unfamiliar. Routine tasks such as booking ahotel, renting a car, or making a restaurant reservation can be mademuch more difficult if the traveler does not speak the native language.The mobile computing and communication power of wireless electronicdevices may be able to significantly alleviate the difficulty associatedwith communicating in a foreign language, and methods and apparatus foralleviating this difficulty are disclosed herein.

In some embodiments, a UE device may be configured to determine itslocation. The UE may determine its location by communication with any ofvarious positioning satellite technologies (GPS, etc.). In otherembodiments, the UE may determine its approximate location by theidentity of the Wi-Fi access point to which the UE is presentlyconnected. The UE may further determine a native language related to thelocation of the UE, and a preferred language that is selected by theuser. For example, if the UE is determined to be located in Japan, theUE may determine Japanese to be the native language for that location.Furthermore, a native English speaker may desire to configure English asthe preferred language for the UE. The UE may further be configured toconvert incoming audio data (e.g., from a voice call) or an incomingtext message from the determined native language into the preferredlanguage. The UE may be additionally or alternatively be configured toconvert outgoing audio data (e.g., from a voice call) or an outgoingtext message from the preferred language to the native language. Theseembodiments may facilitate communication with the UE in a region thatuses a language that is unfamiliar to the user.

FIG. 11: Exemplary Method for Performing Location Based Audio to TextConversion

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary method by which UE performs location basedaudio-to-text conversion on an incoming audio message. An audio messageis received at the UE from a remote device. Based on the location of thedevice, the UE determines a likely native language for the audiomessage. The UE then converts the audio message into text, wherein theconversion involves a translation of the audio message from the nativelanguage into a preferred language determined by the user. An option toplayback the audio message and the translated text are then displayed onthe display of the UE.

FIG. 12: Flowchart for Entering Voice-to-Text Mode Based on AmbientNoise Measurement

FIG. 12 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an exemplary method for UEdevice to enter a voice-to-text mode based on an ambient noisemeasurement, according to some embodiments.

At 1202, a UE device may perform a measurement of ambient noise using amicrophone of the UE. In various embodiments, this may be performed inresponse to an incoming voice call, or may be periodically performed, asdesired.

At 1204, the UE may be placed in a first mode in response to determiningthat the measured amount of ambient noise is greater than a firstthreshold, wherein in the first mode incoming voice signals to the UEare automatically converted to a text message displayed on a display ofthe UE. The first mode may be referred to as a ‘voice-to-text’ mode. Insome embodiments, the UE may be configured to enter the voice-to-textmode automatically in response to the determination that the ambientnoise measurement exceeded the first threshold. In other embodiments,the determination that the ambient noise measurement exceeded the firstthreshold may cause the UE to display an option which is selectable by auser of the UE to enter the voice-to-text mode, as explained in greaterdetail above.

The following numbered paragraphs discuss other various embodiments.

In some embodiments, a wearable device is claimed comprising at leastone antenna for performing wireless communication, a first radio coupledto the at least one antenna, and one or more processors coupled to thefirst radio. The first radio may be configured to perform short-rangecommunication with a companion device, and the one or more processorsand the first radio may be configured to perform wireless communicationsusing the at least one antenna.

In some embodiments, the wearable device is configured to receive anincoming voice call originating from a remote UE device, determine ifthe companion device is proximate to the wearable device, and enter afirst mode for the incoming voice call after determining that thecompanion device is not proximate to the wearable device. While in thefirst mode, incoming voice signals to the wearable device from theincoming call may be automatically converted to a text message displayedon the wearable device.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to present an option on the display thatis selectable to enter the first mode, wherein the option to enter thefirst mode is automatically presented in response to determining thatthe companion device is not proximate to the wearable device.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to automatically enter the first mode inresponse to determining that the companion device is not proximate tothe wearable device.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to present an icon on the display that isselectable to enter the first mode, wherein a prominence of the icon isincreased in response to determining that the companion device is notproximate to the wearable device.

In some embodiments, the companion device is a smart phone.

In some embodiments, the wearable device further comprises a secondradio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the second radio isconfigured to perform cellular communication with a base station, andwherein the incoming voice call is received by the second radio from thebase station.

In some embodiments, the wearable device is a smart watch.

In some embodiments, in the first mode text messages selected and/orinput are automatically converted to outgoing voice signals to theremote UE device.

In some embodiments, during the incoming voice call, the wearable deviceis configured to present an option on the display that is selectable toexit the first mode, wherein after exiting the first mode incoming voicesignals to the UE device are presented as audible voice signals.

In some embodiments, after exiting the first mode automatic, conversionof incoming voice signals to the UE device to a text message is nolonger performed.

In some embodiments, the first radio is configured to performshort-range communication with an input/output (I/O) accessory device,wherein the wearable device is further configured to determine if theI/O accessory device is available for use with the wearable device,enter the first mode for the incoming voice call after determining thatthe I/O accessory device is not available for use with the UE device andthat the companion device is not proximate to the wearable device.

In some embodiments, the I/O accessory device is a wireless headsetcomprising a microphone and a speaker.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to present an option on the display thatis selectable to enter the first mode, wherein the option to enter thefirst mode is automatically presented in response to determining thatthe I/O accessory device is not available for use with the wearabledevice and that the companion device is not proximate to the wearabledevice.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to automatically enter the first mode inresponse to determining that the I/O accessory device is not availablefor use with the wearable device and that the companion device is notproximate to the wearable device.

In some embodiments, a wearable device is claimed comprising at leastone antenna for performing wireless communication; a first radio coupledto the at least one antenna, wherein the first radio is configured toperform short-range communication with a companion device; and one ormore processors coupled to the first radio, wherein the one or moreprocessors and the first radio are configured to perform wirelesscommunications using the at least one antenna.

In some embodiments, the wearable device is configured to receive anincoming voice call originating from a remote UE device; automaticallydetermine if the companion device is proximate to the wearable device inresponse to receiving the incoming voice call; and automatically placethe wearable device in a first mode for the incoming voice call inresponse to determining that the companion device is not proximate tothe wearable device, wherein in the first mode incoming voice signals tothe wearable device from the incoming call are automatically convertedto a text message displayed on the wearable device.

In some embodiments, the automatic placement of the wearable device inthe first mode is performed without manual user input selecting thefirst mode.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium isclaimed comprising program instructions, wherein the memory medium iscomprised within a wearable device. The program instructions may beexecutable to receive an incoming voice call originating from a remoteUE device; determine if a companion device is proximate to the wearabledevice; and enter a first mode for the incoming voice call afterdetermining that the companion device is not proximate to the wearabledevice, wherein in the first mode incoming voice signals to the wearabledevice from the incoming call are automatically converted to a textmessage displayed on the wearable device.

In some embodiments, the program instructions are further executable to:after receiving the incoming voice call, present an option on thedisplay that is selectable to enter the first mode, wherein the optionto enter the first mode is automatically presented in response todetermining that the companion device is not proximate to the wearabledevice.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) device is claimed comprising:at least one antenna for performing wireless communication; a firstradio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the first radio isconfigured to perform cellular communication with a base station; asecond radio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the secondradio is configured to perform short-range communication with aninput/output (I/O) accessory device; and one or more processors coupledto the first and second radios, wherein the one or more processors andthe first and second radios are configured to perform wirelesscommunications using the at least one antenna.

The UE device may be configured to: receive an incoming voice call froma remote UE device; automatically determine if the I/O accessory deviceis available for use with the UE device; and enter a first mode for theincoming call after determining that the I/O accessory device is notavailable for use with the UE device, wherein in the first mode incomingvoice signals to the UE device are automatically converted to a textmessage displayed to the user.

In some embodiments, the UE device is configured to present an option onthe display that is selectable to enter the first mode, wherein theoption to enter the first mode is automatically presented in response todetermining that the I/O accessory device is not available for use withthe UE device.

In some embodiments, the UE device is configured to automatically enterthe first mode in response to determining that the I/O accessory deviceis not available for use with the UE device.

In some embodiments, after receiving the incoming voice call, thewearable device is configured to present an icon on the display that isselectable to enter the first mode, wherein a size of the icon isincreased in response to determining that the I/O accessory device isnot available for use with the UE device.

In some embodiments, the I/O accessory device is a wireless headsetcomprising a microphone and a speaker.

In some embodiments, the UE device is a wearable device.

In some embodiments, the UE device is a smart watch.

In some embodiments, the UE device is a wearable device that isconfigured to utilize a companion device for certain functionality. Inthese embodiments, the UE device is further configured to: determine ifthe companion device is proximate to the UE device; and enter the firstmode for the incoming call after determining that the I/O accessorydevice is not available for use with the UE device and the companiondevice is not proximate to the UE device.

In some embodiments, the UE device is configured to present an option onthe display that is selectable to enter the first mode, wherein theoption to enter the first mode is automatically presented in response todetermining that the I/O accessory device is not available for use withthe UE device and the companion device is not proximate to the UEdevice.

In some embodiments, the UE device is configured to automatically enterthe first mode in response to determining that the I/O accessory deviceis not available for use with the UE device and the companion device isnot proximate to the UE device.

In some embodiments, the companion device is a smart phone.

In some embodiments, during the incoming voice call the UE device isconfigured to present an option on the display that is selectable toexit the first mode, wherein after exiting the first mode incoming voicesignals to the UE device are presented as audible voice signals andautomatic conversion of incoming voice signals to the UE device to atext message is no longer performed.

In some embodiments, in the first mode text messages selected and/orinput are automatically converted to outgoing voice signals to theremote UE device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) device is claimed comprising:at least one antenna for performing wireless communication; a firstradio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the first radio isconfigured to perform cellular communication with a base station; asecond radio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the secondradio is configured to perform short-range communication with aninput/output (I/O) accessory device; and one or more processors coupledto the first and second radios, wherein the one or more processors andthe first and second radios are configured to perform wirelesscommunications using the at least one antenna. In these embodiments, theUE device is configured to: receive an incoming voice call from a remoteUE device; determine if the I/O accessory device is available for usewith the UE device in response to receiving the incoming voice call;automatically place the UE device in a first mode for the incoming callin response to determining that the I/O accessory device is notavailable for use with the UE device, wherein in the first mode incomingvoice signals to the UE device are automatically converted to a textmessage displayed on a display of the UE device; and wherein theautomatic placement of the UE device in the first mode is performedwithout manual user input selecting the first mode.

In some embodiments, the UE device is a wearable device that isconfigured to utilize a companion device for certain functionality;wherein the UE device is further configured to: determine if thecompanion device is proximate to the UE device; and wherein the UEdevice is configured to automatically place the UE device in the firstmode for the incoming call in response to determining that the I/Oaccessory device is not available for use with the UE device and thecompanion device is not proximate to the UE device.

In some embodiments, a wearable device is claimed comprising: at leastone antenna for performing wireless communication; a first radio coupledto the at least one antenna, wherein the first radio is configured toperform short-range communication with a companion device; and one ormore processors coupled to the first radio, wherein the one or moreprocessors and the first radio are configured to perform wirelesscommunications using the at least one antenna. In these embodiments, thewearable device is configured to: receive an incoming voice calloriginating from a remote UE device; determine if a short range wirelessdevice is proximate to the wearable device, wherein the short rangewireless device provide supplemental microphone and speaker capabilitiesfor the wearable device; and enter a first mode for the incoming voicecall after determining that the short range wireless device is notproximate to the wearable device, wherein in the first mode incomingvoice signals to the wearable device from the incoming call areautomatically converted to a text message displayed on the wearabledevice.

In some embodiments, the short range wireless device is a Bluetoothheadset.

In some embodiments, the short range wireless device is a smart phoneacting as a companion device to the wearable device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) device is claimed comprising:at least one antenna for performing wireless communication; at least oneradio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the at least oneradio is configured to perform cellular communication with a basestation; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio,wherein the one or more processors and the at least one radio areconfigured to perform wireless communications using the at least oneantenna.

In these embodiments, the UE device is configured to: receive anincoming voice call from a remote UE device; place the UE in a firstmode for the incoming call, wherein in the first mode incoming voicesignals to the UE are automatically converted to a text messagedisplayed on a display of the UE device; after the incoming call hasbeen answered in the first mode, during the voice call: present anoption on the display that is selectable to exit the first mode; receiveinput selecting the option to exit the first mode; and exit the firstmode and return to a normal call mode in response to the input selectingthe option to exit the first mode, wherein in the normal call modeincoming voice signals to the UE device are presented as audible voicesignals and automatic conversion of incoming voice signals to the UEdevice to a text message is no longer performed.

In some embodiments, in the first mode, text messages selected and/orinput are automatically converted to outgoing voice signals to theremote UE.

In some embodiments, in the normal call mode, text messages selectedand/or input are not automatically converted to outgoing voice signalsto the remote UE.

In some embodiments, after exiting the first mode and returning to thenormal call mode, during the incoming call, the UE device is furtherconfigured to: present an option on the display that is selectable toreturn to the first mode; receive input selecting the option to returnto the first mode; and exit the normal call mode and return to the firstmode in response to the input selecting the option to return to thefirst mode.

In some embodiments, a wearable device is claimed comprising: at leastone antenna for performing wireless communication; a first radio coupledto the at least one antenna, wherein the first radio is configured toperform short-range communication with a companion device; and one ormore processors coupled to the first radio, wherein the one or moreprocessors and the first radio are configured to perform wirelesscommunications using the at least one antenna.

In these embodiments, the wearable device is configured to: receive anincoming voice call originating from a remote UE device; after receivingthe incoming voice call, determine one or more criteria for establishinga voice-to-text mode for the incoming call; and after receiving theincoming voice call, present an icon on the display that is selectableto enter the first mode, wherein a size of the icon is increased inresponse to determining one or more criteria for establishing avoice-to-text mode for the incoming call.

In some embodiments, the size of the icon is correspondingly increasedbased on a number of the criteria determined for establishing thevoice-to-text mode for the incoming call, wherein a greater number ofidentified criteria results in a correspondingly greater size of theicon.

In some embodiments, the size of the icon is correspondingly increasedbased on a type of the criteria determined for establishing thevoice-to-text mode for the incoming call.

In some embodiments, the size of the icon is correspondingly increasedbased on a number and type of the criteria determined for establishingthe voice-to-text mode for the incoming call.

In some embodiments, in the criteria include two or more of: 1)proximity of a companion device; 2) availability of an audioinput/output (I/O) device; 3) location; and 4) ambient noisemeasurement.

In some embodiments, a user electronics (UE) device is claimedcomprising: at least one antenna for performing wireless communication;at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein thefirst radio is configured to perform cellular communication with a basestation; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio,wherein the one or more processors and the at least one radio areconfigured to perform wireless communications using the at least oneantenna.

In these embodiments, the UE device is configured to: automaticallydetermine if the UE device is in a driving scenario; automatically placethe UE device in a first mode in response to determining that the UEdevice is in the driving scenario, wherein in the first mode incomingtext messages to the UE device are automatically converted to a voicemessage presented audibly to the user; and the automatic placement ofthe UE device in the first mode is performed without manual user inputselecting the first mode.

In some embodiments, automatically determining if the UE device is in adriving scenario is based at least in part on a determined velocity ofthe UE device

In some embodiments, in the first mode incoming email messages to the UEdevice are automatically converted to a voice message presented audibly.

In some embodiments, automatically determining if the UE device is in adriving scenario comprises automatically determining if the UE device ismoving at a velocity greater than a threshold indicative of a user ofthe UE device driving an automobile.

In some embodiments, automatically determining if the UE device is in adriving scenario comprises automatically determining if the UE device ismoving at a velocity greater than a threshold indicative of a user ofthe UE device driving an automobile and automatically determining thatthe user is in a driver's seat of an automobile.

In some embodiments, a user electronics (UE) device is claimedcomprising: at least one antenna for performing wireless communication;at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein thefirst radio is configured to perform cellular communication with a basestation; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio,wherein the one or more processors and the at least one radio areconfigured to perform wireless communications using the at least oneantenna; and a memory which stores an operating system of a first type,wherein the operating system of the first type is executed by the one ormore processors.

In these embodiments the UE device is configured to: receive an incomingvoice call from a remote UE device; enter a first mode of operation ofthe UE device, wherein in the first mode of operation the incoming voicecall is converted to a text message presented on a display of the UE;automatically determine if the remote UE device is executing theoperating system of the first type; and automatically transmit a firstmessage to the remote in response to automatically determining that theremote UE device is executing the operating system of the first type,wherein the first message indicates to the remote UE device that the UEdevice has entered the first mode of operation.

In some embodiments, the first message indicates to the remote UE devicethat the remote UE device may experience delays in receiving responsesfrom the UE device, due to the UE device being in the first mode ofoperation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example, some embodiments may be realized as acomputer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or acomputer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or morecustom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodimentsmay be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of a methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106) may be configured toinclude a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherethe memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor isconfigured to read and execute the program instructions from the memorymedium, where the program instructions are executable to implement amethod, e.g., any of the various method embodiments described herein(or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, anysubset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, anycombination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any ofvarious forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user electronics device (UE), comprising: atleast one antenna for performing wireless communication; at least oneradio coupled to the at least one antenna, wherein the at least oneradio is configured to perform cellular communication with a basestation; one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio,wherein the one or more processors and the at least one radio areconfigured to perform wireless communications using the at least oneantenna; and a microphone; wherein the UE is configured to: measure anamount of ambient noise received by the microphone of the UE; inresponse to receiving an incoming voice call, present an icon on thedisplay that is selectable to enter a voice-to-text mode, wherein theicon is made more prominent in response to determining that the amountof ambient noise received by the microphone of the UE is greater thanthe first threshold, and wherein in the voice-to-text mode incomingvoice signals to the UE are automatically converted to a text messagedisplayed on a display of the UE.
 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein thefirst threshold is set to an audio level such that there is difficultyunderstanding speech when ambient noise in a location of the UE is abovethe first threshold.
 3. The UE of claim 1, wherein the UE is a wearabledevice.
 4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the UE is configured to measurethe amount of ambient noise received by the microphone of the UE inresponse to receipt of the incoming voice call.
 5. The UE of claim 1,wherein the UE is further configured to automatically determine alocation of the UE; wherein the UE is further configured toautomatically place itself in the voice-to-text mode in response todetermining that the amount of ambient noise received by the microphoneof the UE is greater than the first threshold and that UE is in a firstlocation.
 6. The UE of claim 1, wherein input text messages areautomatically converted into outgoing voice signals while engaging avoice call while in the voice-to-text mode.
 7. The UE of claim 1,wherein the UE is further configured to: make ambient noise measurementsat periodic intervals, place the UE in the voice-to-text mode inresponse to multiple consecutive ones of most recent ambient noisemeasurements exceeding the first threshold.
 8. The UE of claim 1,wherein making the icon more prominent comprises increasing a size ofthe icon.
 9. The UE of claim 1, wherein making the icon more prominentcomprises altering at least one of a color and shape of the icon.
 10. Amethod performed by a user electronics device (UE), the methodcomprising: measuring an amount of ambient noise received by amicrophone of the UE; in response to receiving an incoming voice call,presenting an icon on the display that is selectable to enter avoice-to-text mode, wherein the icon is made more prominent in responseto determining that the amount of ambient noise received by themicrophone of the UE is greater than a first threshold, wherein in thevoice-to-text mode incoming voice signals to the UE are automaticallyconverted to a text message displayed on a display of the UE.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein said measuring the amount of ambient noiseis performed in response to receipt of the incoming voice call.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein input text messages are automaticallyconverted into outgoing voice signals while engaging a voice call whilein the voice-to-text mode.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein makingthe icon more prominent comprises increasing a size of the icon.
 14. Themethod of claim 10, wherein making the icon more prominent comprisesaltering at least one of a color and shape of the icon.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable memory medium that stores programinstructions that, when executed by a wireless user equipment device(UE), cause the UE to: perform an ambient noise measurement using amicrophone of the UE; in response to receiving an incoming voice call,present an icon on the display that is selectable to enter avoice-to-text mode, wherein the icon is made more prominent in responseto determining that an amount of ambient noise received by themicrophone of the UE is greater than the first threshold, and wherein inthe voice-to-text mode incoming voice signals to the UE areautomatically converted to a text message displayed on a display of theUE.
 16. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein the program instructionsare further executable to cause the UE to: perform the ambient noisemeasurement using the microphone of the UE in response to receipt of theincoming voice call.
 17. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein theambient noise measurement preferentially measures audio frequencies thatare likely to interfere with audible speech frequencies.
 18. The memorymedium of claim 15, wherein the first threshold is user-configurable.19. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein the program instructions arefurther executable to cause the UE to: present an option on the displaythat is selectable to exit the voice-to-text mode during the voice call;wherein after exiting the voice-to-text mode incoming voice signals tothe UE are presented as audible voice signals to the user and automaticconversion of incoming voice signals to the UE to a text message is nolonger performed.
 20. The memory medium of claim 15, wherein making theicon more prominent comprises one or more of: increasing a size of theicon, altering a shape of the icon, and altering a color of the icon.